Vulcan Raven

In Metal Gear Solid, Vulcan Raven is the second boss faced by our "hero" Solid Snake. He is the only character Snake must fight twice. That is if you don't count basic troops that respawn when you leave a room for a bit, and Liquid Snake who really is fought once in two stages of battle.

The first face off with Raven is dramatic and to some extent hard to figure out. He is found in the long, snow covered yard between two buildings, and must be neutralized to enter the next building. There is a longer FMV leading you into the fight and the fact that he is cruisin' around in a M1 Tank with no shirt on adds to the drama. Vulcan Raven is BIG, very big, and that tank doesn't make him look smaller. The best way to approach the situation is by doing ninja moves all over the place like in the sequence leading into the fight, but these moves can not be done by the player. A new method of fighting must be found. Throwing chaff grenades will disable Vulcan Raven's ability to shell you with the cannon mounted on his tank. This will allow you to get close the tank by avoiding being blown back 20 feet by artillery. When you get near the tank, Raven will abandon the cannon for a mounted machine gun for his own safety and lack of aim. Like most tanks, the M1 is has plenty of armor. This fact should tip you off that you pistol will do little, if any, damage to Vulcan Raven's life bar. So, there you are running around a tank trying not to be shot, ran over, and taunted with no gun to deal any damage to the boss at hand with. What do you do? Throw grenades! Raven must be out of the tank's hatch to some extent to operate the weapon. Because of this, there is room to toss a grenade down the hatch with the gunner. This, to say the least, would hurt a tad bit, and takes a rather large chunk of health off the boss' life bar. So, get close with chaff, stay to the sides of the tank to avoid being ran over, dodge enemy gunfire, toss a grenade here and there, and make sure to bundle up. It's cold out in the snow. Good luck!

The second meeting with Vulcan Raven is in a frozen storage room. Here we find out why he is called Vulcan Raven. Raven storms into the party like El Nino with a big vulcan machine gun. Unlike the fight with Revolver Ocelot, you do not want to attempt to have Raven reload his weapon. The gun is so powerful you should have Snake avoid it at all costs. This is a fight of brute force, and for you, speed. Vulcan Raven is big and slow. Set up claymore mines in the paths. Then camp out by it until he spots you. When he does, run like he around a corner. He will charge to catch up, and typically run into the mine. This does a good deal of damage to his hit points and I'm sure his pride too. Don't memorize the room too well, Raven can alter it through means of destroying walls with his vulcan cannon. So, set traps, run away, don't get shot, and bundle up again. You would think that seeing Vulcan Raven's muscular, shirtless body would keep Snake hot enough, but you don't want to catch cold. Good luck!All details come from my own mad skill with the game itself